According to Heerma, the CDA party has ‘fundamental questions’ about the feasibility of the plans, which require ‘adjustments’. “It concerns a lot of points, which are partly technical in nature. Two points that are important to us: many provinces realize that something needs to be done in the field of nitrogen. But that should not lead to clear-cutting and the loss of social cohesion in rural areas. Then you see that the provinces themselves say: we have alternatives to achieve the goals. We want there to be no dictate from The Hague, but the provinces to be given the space to implement it in their own way.”
drawing board
For the time being, Heerma will stick to the percentages and targets set by the cabinet. “The goals are there for a reason.” That is exactly what many party members have to do. They want the government to go back to the drawing board. “I think it is also the case within the CDA: we understand that steps need to be taken, we are prepared to take those steps. But not in the way it is presented here.” According to Heerma, there should be room for a ‘different interpretation’ of achieving the goals.
Heerma wants farmers to have more perspective. “In the letter from Minister Staghouwer of Agriculture, that perspective is missing. That is too little concrete in it, a missed opportunity.” Last week, provincial administrators were concerned about feasibility. “You can’t wipe that whole map. That is why it will be necessary to adjust these plans,” he says.
‘Faults’
According to Heerma, he also gets signals that ‘errors’ crept into the map that was presented last week. “I think there needs to be clarity about how those maps were created, it is adjusted if there are actually errors in them. We will really argue in favor of adjusting the plans, but against the background that something really needs to be done. We as a society cannot run away from that.”
Earlier there was also concern within the VVD and the CU about the nitrogen plans, especially in the provinces. VVD party leader Sophie Hermans said on Tuesday prior to the group meeting that it is her intention to achieve the agreed goals, despite resistance from her own party. For example, a motion was passed at the congress that removes the soil under the nitrogen policy. Hermans says that he is ‘in talks’ with those submitters, but does not yet draw any conclusions from the slap on the fingers from the members.
D66 in the House of Representatives is concerned that the provinces will not achieve the targets quickly enough, MP Tjeerd de Groot fears. If provincial administrators do not embrace the goals and get to work, De Groot foresees additional legal problems and a deterioration of nature. D66 party chairman Jan Paternotte says there is ‘no disagreement’ within the national coalition about the nitrogen plans. “Simply because there is no alternative to achieve those goals. All goat paths, all subterfuge have already been explored. Those options are not there.”